The invention relates generally to travel assistance and more particularly to devices providing interactive travel assistance services and methods for using such devices.
A hybrid satellite and terrestrial communication system, such as a Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) system with an Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC), for example, can provide a more efficient spectrum utilization and a more effective coverage in rural and urban areas than can be provided by stand-alone mobile satellite systems. For that reason, existing MSS/ATC systems have been typically used to provide voice communication with wide geographic coverage. Using existing MSS/ATC systems to make available other types of services, however, poses many implementation challenges. For instance, to support mobile interactive services, an MSS/ATC system design may need to effectively handle multicast transmissions across both satellite networks and ancillary terrestrial networks along with interactive communications with individual users. When properly designed, an MSS/ATC system can support one or more mobile interactive services, including travel assistance services, for example.
In a typical travel or roadside assistant service, a request is made from a vehicle to a service center through a cellular network. The service center can dispatch, automatically and/or through a live operator, for example, a service vehicle to where the person making the request is located. These types of services are limited, however, since user preferences are not generally part of the criteria used in the service center's selection of the service provider. For example, the service center may dispatch a service provider because it is the closest one to the requester, but it is one with whom the requester has had a bad experience in the past. In many instances restrictions in the scope of travel assistant services provided can result from the system and/or the network supporting those services.
Thus, a need exists for interactive services and/or devices that use satellite and terrestrial communication systems to offer users a wide geographic coverage along with a more flexible, effective, and/or feature-rich travel assistance experience.